Travel on a Budget: Safari Light

*Close Your Eyes And Imagine* The air is crisp but not cold. A regal caribou saunters through the campsite. Your naturalist guide has put balsam leaves on the floor of your luxury tent to soften the ground beneath your sleeping bag. Two yoga mats lean lazily against its canvas wall. The air is heated by a small fire place. A tin chimney sneaks up through the roof of the tent, and you keep remarkably warm. Tomorrow morning you will wake to strong coffee and Canadian bacon and track the musk ox, black bear, moose and , of course, the caribou. You are on a died-in-the-wool Northern safari, and there is no single supplement! If you want to see animals in their natural habitat, but are counting your pennies for a school break vacation, there is no better and cheaper bet than the Carabou safari of Northern Canada's Quebec Provence. It takes place in the snowy woods and can be more memorable, more assessable, and considerably lower in cost than the big game variety. It is one of those adventures that can be solitary or help you bond with friends. The nearby areas are also college towns, so you may make some new ones. *Plan Your Safari!* Your Safari begins in Montreal where you take an under one hour flight on Jazz Canadian Air lines to Botville. Have a shortbread cookie during your flight, and before you know it you are in the land of the Blueberry. Head for the newest feature of the Zoo Sauvage de Saint Felicien, a 1200 acre park where animals roam free while visitors sit in cages drawn by a truck cab. Only animals natural to the region can be seen in this zoo, which is why the nursery is always so active and the settings so perfect. A day visit is likely to turn up fox, black bear, eagles, otter in a natural setting. The rare Grizzly and polar bear can be seen in more traditional zoo like environment. There are constant feedings, but no forced performances by the animals. In the zoo park grounds is the gem of the Boreal Experience , a day and a half soft adventure surprise for one or more.. This rare excursion brings you face to face with hundreds of species the largest of which is the Bison, the smallest a tea leaf you may find on the trail to be taken back to camp and brewed to give you a specially good night's rest. During your safari you will not only track the animals but learn telemetry, a triangulated system for finding animals who are wearing special collars, similar to those on dogs when an owner installs an electric fence. But here the animals are not fenced, and neither are you. Caution is key. This is a true safari, and the black bear is not interested in your early Monday morning meeting. If you make too much of a fuss, you just look like lunch. *What Else to Expect on Your Trip* The Nature Adventure Excursion lasts a wondrous day and half, but you can easily extend your stay. You can visit the Center for the Conservation of Boreal Biodiversity, view several big screen films on the region. You can begin to understand the First Nations Culture, as it is entwined with caribou herding and nomadic life in the Boreal. Northern Quebec is no stranger to great cuisine. You may want to take an extra day to savor well priced five star meals, or stay another day in your luxury tent. The Boreal is far north enough to see the northern lights, or aurora borealis. *To learn more, visit www.borealie.org or call 1-800 667 5687* *On a scale of 1-5* *Find your muse* - 5 *Meet and bond* - 5 *Luxury and pampering* - 1 *Lifelong learning* - 3 *Cost* - $ _Adriane Berg is an attorney Counsel to the New York and Morristown, New Jersey Law fiorm of Riker Danzig, specializing in elder law and longevity. *Her latest book is, "How Not To Go Broke at 102:Achieiving Everlasting Wealth," Wiley 2005.* In her parallel life, Adriane is a travel journalist specializing in soft adventure and luxury travel._ delicious | digg | technorati
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